Nested Imports (Nimp)

Allows nested imports, a la Java. Nimp installs a harmless meta import-hook that
adds support for nested packages, i.e., multiple packages that “live” under a
common namespace. This is the idiom in Java, where you have packages like
com.foo.bar.spam and com.foo.bar.eggs, as well as in Haskell and several
other languages. Nimp basically allows packages to “inject” themselves into
shared namespaces.

Usage

You can add these two lines to your site.py script, so you’ll get Nimp
out of the box.

Benefits

Allows for distributing “plug-in” packages independently: consider a project
like twisted, made of several add-on packages (but without hacking distutils
too much).

A project may depend on package X.Y without having to depend on X.

These nested-packages can be found anywhere on your python path (they don’t have
to be located in the same directory)

A small (less than 100 LoC) standalone module that does all the magic for you –
no third-party cooperation required.

Note

distutils has problems with directory names that contain dots (as in
com.ibm.storage), so Nimp supports either dots or hyphens (e.g.,
com-ibm-storage). This allows you to distribute your package nicely, using
commonplace distribution mechanisms.

The recommended way is to use hyphens, but you may continue to use dots,
as was the case in previous versions. However, never mix dots and hyphens
(e.g., com.ibm-storage) – it will not work.